Well Rowdy Tellez hit 35 homeruns one year and wasn't much of a player, in other years hit 20 and was unplayable. Tonnes of raw power, good game power, and sucks.
This tripe is stupid. You don't see a lot of first basement without power because the skillset to make it work (good defense and on base skills) often enables them to play other positions.
This years version of Vlad is 3 WAR. .285 .385 .395, no power, OK 1b defense and walks.
This type of first basemen is rare, but that is different than 'not an asset'. Howritz's road to success is that he hits .280 in the majors, keeps walking and his defense scores good. If that happens (and maybe it won't) he is a good player, even without power. If he hit's .240 with bad defense, he isn't worth anything.